


The One where Luz Tries to Tone Down the Sugar

by HatlessHoneybee



Series: The Misadventures of Curahee Complex - (Hiatus do to personal reasons) [5]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Developing Relationship, Donuts, Headaches & Migraines, M/M, Platonic Cuddling, Sugar, Too Much Sugar, Unhealthy Habits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-07 07:37:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14076042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HatlessHoneybee/pseuds/HatlessHoneybee
Summary: After a series of severe headaches, Doc Roe informs George that he needs to cut back on the sugar. When George refuses to comply, it's up to Joe Toye and Frank Perconte to save the situation.





	The One where Luz Tries to Tone Down the Sugar

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I have to admit, that I wasn't really happy with this one. I tried my best, but for some reason I just didn't feel like I got it right, but I posted it anyways. I hope you guys still like it. The inspiration for this fic came when I was laid up in my room for two days with one of my migraines. Guys, anyone who suffers from migraines will get how much they suck. Anyways, when I finally emerged into the light, I kinda had this idea. I hope it's not too bad.
> 
> Oh! I wanna give a special thanks to alexpenkala and odetteandodile who have been giving lots of great comments on these fics! I hope this one is as good as the others and I really appreciate you guys! Thanks tons!
> 
> As always, I own nothing. Band of Brothers is property of HBO. I intend no offense to the real veterans of the 101st airborne. This is a complete work of fiction based on the fictional versions in the show portrayed by actors. I do not mean to imply or insinuate anything about the real men!
> 
> This is also self edited (and finished kinda late) so please excuse any typos or grammatical errors! Thanks everyone! - Bee

George Luz was one miserable man. Laying up in bed because of a massive headache was not on his list of things to do. On a typical day, George was like an energizer bunny half-drunk on moonshine (as said by Joe Toye), this just wasn't right. At least, that's what Perco thought when he looked down at his friends huddled form, bundled up in a blanket with the lights out.

"Really, Luz," Perco whispered, trying to keep any offending sounds out of his voice. "You need to go to the doctor. You've been getting these a lot lately."

"Go away," Luz groaned, grabbing a pillow and pressing it over his head. Everything hurt and even the small light creeping in from a crack in the door was like a flood light in his eyes. The sigh that Perco let out was just as grating.

"Please," Perco sighed, watching as George curled up even further, almost knocking the rooster that Joe had given him off the bed. Tentatively, Luz grabbed the rooster and pulled it closer to his chest.

Perco crossed his arms and shook his head. Luz wasn't known for his stubborn streak, but as his roomate, Perconte was privy to things about Luz that no one esle was, which means he knew when George was going to dig his heels in. This was one of those times.

With little choice, Perconte left the room and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Anybody who knew Roe knew that he was unlikely to answer his phone if you called him, especially at work. In fact, Babe and Renee were the only ones whos calls he routinely answered. It was better to send a text message, it would likely get a better response time, too.

**Sent 7:07 PM to Doc Roe:** _Luz has been having bad headaches lately. Won't see anyone. Can you take a look doc_

**Recieved 7:21 PM from Doc Roe:** _I won't get off til close to midnight, but I can check him out when I get home. In the meantime, have him take 2 ibuprofen and lay down. No phone, no tv, no light._

**Sent 7:23 PM to Doc Roe:** _Thanks doc_

Perco went to the bathroom and flung open their medicine cabinet, finding it severly lacking, but there was a bottle of ibuprofen from the time when Perco kept getting toothaches and refused to see a dentist (since then he had adopted a vigorous brushing routine). He popped off the cap and took out two along with a glass of water, bracing himself to go back in and medicate the Luz-beast.

"Buddy," Perco whispered, coming over and kneeling by Luz. "You gotta take these meds. It'll help."

George groaned but complied, pushing the rooster aside and gingerly sitting up. The pounding in his head started as soon as he moved, causing him to reach up and press the heels of his palms to his temples. With little more protest, George took the medication that Perco offered and popped them into his mouth. He swished them back with water and laid back on the bed, the rooster and pillow with him.

Perco sighed and checked his watch., knowing that he would have to be on his way to work before Roe got here. "Hey, buddy, I texted Roe to come take a look at you. He said that he'll be here around midnight."

"'M fine," George muttered.

"Sure you are," Perco rolled his eyes and stood up again. He made his way out of the room and towards the front door. Normally, he would have been fine leaving George alone, but with how miserable he seemed, he wanted to make sure that his friend wouldn't be totally alone until the doc got there.

Pounding on the door to apartment 2F probably wasn't the best idea he'd had, but he was in a hurry. It took less than a minute before Bill was throwing the door open, a pinched look on his face.

"What the hell you banging around for, Perc?" Bill asked, standing in his boxers and a wife beater. There were dorito crumbs on his shirt and the faint sound of Lilo and Stitch on in the background.

Perco snorted at the sight and tried to peer aroung Bill's shoulder. "Hey, is Toye around?"

Bill nodded and stepped aside, allowing Perconte to follow him in. He went over and banged on Joe's door. "Joe, Perconte wants to talk to you."

There was some shuffling and then the door swung open, Joe coming out in a pair of sweats and a muscle shirt, the collar damp with sweat. Perco imagined he must have just come home from the gym.

"What's up?" He asked in his usual gruff tone.

"I need a favor," He started, knowing that Joe wouldn't deny him this. It wasn't a secret at all that Joe was fond of George, probably more than anyone else in Curahee. Getting Joe to help out would be easy as long as it benefited George (not that Joe wasn't a standup guy anyways, but George was a weak spot). "George has been getting these crazy headaches and I gotta go into work early, ten instead of twelve. Doc is supposed to be in at midnight, but I was hoping you could check on him."

Joe was nodding before Perco could even finish. "No problem. Knock when you're on your way out and I'll keep an eye on him."

"Thanks, man."

 

Joe was a little worried when he went into apartment 2D and found it severly lacking in any Luz-ness, such as music, old movies on the TV, and snacks on the coffee table. With a frown on his face, he closed the front door and went towards George's room. Gently, he pushed the door open and slipped inside the room.

On the bed, George lifted his head up, slowly, like it pained him, and from the look on his face Joe knew it had. "Joe?"

"Jesus," Joe breathed, coming to sit on the bed by George's legs. "Is it bad, Georgie?"

Luz shrugged, laying his head back down on the pillow. Joe's eyes slipped over to the rooster that George was snuggling, a smile coming to his face. He reached out a hand and patted the fluffy plushie. "Didn't throw this thing away?"

"Of course not," George muttered. "Gilbert is a very important member of this family."

"Gilbert?" Joe raised an eyebrow, pulling his hand back and letting it settled on George's blanketed hip instead, his thumb rubbing circles on it. "Doc will be here in an hour or so. I'm gonna hang around until then."

"I told Frank I'm fine," George opened his eyes enough to glare at Joe.

"And I'm tellin' you, I'm stayin'." It was decided when Joe moved over to the other side of the bed and laid on his back, hands behind his head. There was some shuffling and then George was pressed against him, his pillow still over his head.

It was so easy for Joe to turn over and press his chest to George's back, hand back on his hip. Every breath that George took was felt by Joe and it was reassuring, calming. With little impulse control, he moved his arm from Luz's hip to wrap around his waist, giving a comforting squeeze. Soon the breathing evened out and he was sure that George was asleep.

 

"It's sugar and stress," Gene told the pair, arms crossed over his chest. George was laying on the bed, looking a little better than he had when Joe arrived. Joe was standing at attention, listening to everything that Gene was saying.

The doctor had arrived about fifteen minutes ago, knocking on the door and waking up both George and Joe, who had fallen asleep shortly after the former. Gene asked a series of questions with George giving his answered with a pout.

"Really?" Joe asked, finding it hard to believe that George was suffering from stress and candy.

Gene rubbed a hand over his eyes, his perpatually dark circles looking even darker. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's actually pretty common. Look, a headache can be symptomatic of a lot of things, but given that it's the only thing wrong with George, I would rule out most of them."

"Sugar, though?" George raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I eat enough for it to be a problem."

"George, I saw you eat on of those giant pixie stix for breakfast the other day," Joe turned on him with a scolding tone.

"He ain't lyin'," Gene told him, matching Joe's look of parental disappointment. Were Carwood and Dick teaching classes, now? "Now, what you're gonna do is lay off the sugar. I'm not sayin' you gotta quit completely, but everythin' in moderation, right? Besides, too much sugar can cause a load of problems. Cuttin' back will make you feel better. Next, is the stress. Anything new comin' in at work?"

George pursed his lips. "Well, the company just got in all this new hardware and we've been working like crazy to set it up. IT department isn't as big as we need."

"There ya go," Gene nodded. "Luz, if anyone knows how to de-stress at the end of a day, it's you. So that's what I'm prescribin'. I want you to cut down on sugar and de-stress. If the headaches keep up after that, then we'll take you in and get some tests done."

"Aye, captain," George mock saluted as best as he could.

 

Joe should have known that it was never that easy. Sure, George managed to cut back on the stress, took some down time and then went back to being a man of the people, something he hadn't been doing in the last week. Of course, now everyone knew it was because he was busy as all hell with work and suffering from headaches, but the sugar was an ongoing war. A war currently being waged by Joe Toye, Frank Perconte, and George Luz.

"George Luz, you put that pack of skittles down!" Perconte scolded, arm extended and finger pointing menacingly at George. The IT expert was crouched in the kitchen, shoveling the candy into his mouth while protecting it like Gollum and the One Ring. "You already had a king sized Twix today!"

"Perco, my man, my brother," George stuck out his bottom lip. "Don't deny me my one vice. I need this, man. My body craves it."

"You hand over that candy or I'll get Toye in here on your ass," Perco threatened closing in and extending his hand, wiggling fingers for the candy.

"Hey, Joe on my ass? I thought you were trying to punish me," George answered, daring to drop another green skittle in his mouth.

"Give me that, you lewd sugar-addict," Perco snatched the candy out of George's hand.

"No! Frank! My precious!" There was a series of bizzare hissing noises as Perco ate the rest of the candy.

"Man, we gotta do something about you," Perco shook his head in disappointment, finishing off the rest of the candy.

 

It was a day later when Joe and Perco got together to form their plan. The pair gathered up all sugary things that George loved, made a trip to the hardware store, and went home to build the Luz-proof cabinet.

"You think this will work?" Perco asked, watching as Joe put the last lock on the cabinet.

"I'm sure. We'll lock up stuff and dole it out to him," Joe told him.

"What about if he buys it himself?"

"What we don't know, we can't help."

Frank sighed, but allowed Joe to continue. This was getting ridiculous, but George was being bull-headed about his change in diet. He had never expected it to be such a problem, and he didn't think George even realized how much he ate until they had to take it away from him.

Joe put the finishing touches on the cabinet and stepped back, crossing his arms to admire his work. "This better fucking work."

 

It really wasn't as shocking as it should have been for Perconte to come home and find George sitting on the counter, cabinet full of sweets open and his hand in a bag of donut holes. Perco let out a gasp, his bag falling to the ground as he looked at George.

"Oh, my god," Perconte's eyes widened.

"I smelled donuts," George shrugged, powdered sugar spattered on his face like freckles.

"How did you get in there? Joe and I have the only keys."

"I found a way to pry the lock off."

"You're an animal," Perconte shook his head. Okay, this had gone far enough. It was one thing to hide sugar or splurge at work, but this was just too much. Whatever system that he and Joe were coming up with didn't seem to do the trick. Now, it was time for an intervention.

"Joe!" Perconte shouted, knocking on the door to apartment 2F. He heard some shuffling and then Joe pulled the door open, clad in his uniform from the garage, though the front was open to reveal his undershirt, slathered with grease.

"What's wrong, now?" Joe sighed, rubbing at his forehead.

"Luz busted through the cabinet. I think it's time we have an intervention."

There was some heavy groaning, a hand going over Joe's face while he weighed out the situation. Christ, if this were anyone else, he would have given up a long time ago. But this was George. George, with the best sense of humor, the brightest smile, and the nicest ass. George, who he had become incredibly fond of and was going to do some serious damage to his system with all this junk food.

"Alright," Joe pushed past Perconte, going straight over to apartment 2D. When he and Perconte came inside, they found George sitting comfortably on the couch, watching Jurassic Park and snacking on the bag of donuts. "George?"

The man in question looked up, still with powdered sugar on his face. _Goddamn adorable_ , Joe thought, before remembering what they were here for. "Hey, Joe."

"Turn that off," Joe gestured towards the TV, coming over to sit on the coffee table directly across from George. "We gotta talk."

"I had a feeling this might be happening," George said in a mock-serious tone. He flipped off the TV and sat up straighter, about to reach into the bag of donuts when Joe snatched it out of his hand, tossing it onto a recliner to the side.

"Hey!"

"Georgie, I'm gonna cut to the chase. You're eating too much of this shit and it's bad for you."

George scoffed exaggeratedly, once, twice, three times. "I do not have a problem."

"You broke into a locked cabinet!"

"Joe-"

"George," Joe scolded, running a hand over his face and leaning forward. In a quick but sure movement, Joe had George's hand encased in his own. "I'm serious. You're having these headaches because you're eating too much sugar. Besides, Roe gave you the low-down on all the bad things that can happen if you eat too much sugar. I'm not saying quit completely, but ease up. You don't need Snickers, Hersheys, and donuts in one day."

"Is really that bad? It's not like I'm smoking weed like Malarkey," George tried. "Or drowning my liver in Vat 69, like Nixon."

"Too much sugar can cause heart problems, liver problems, effect your skin, your teeth," Joe started listed off before George squeezed his hands to stop him

George grunted, scratching at his head before he looked up at Joe. "This really bugs you that much?"

"Of cours it does, George," Joe smiled softly, the edges of his cheeks pinking. "You're like the only person I can really tolerate. I bought a damn rooster to cheer you up. I don't want you destorying your system with junk. At least, not this soon."

"Fine," George harrumphed. "I guess if Babe can tone down on the idiocy for Roe, then I can try and tone down the sugar for you."

"No," Joe shook his head. "Not for me. For you. It's your body, Georgie. You gotta live in it."

"Right," George nodded. "Right. I'm gonna cool it because it'll make me feel better."

"Try cutting down to one candy bar a day?"

"Will do," George nodded. Placing his free hand on George's hair, Joe ruffled the tufts and put on his fondest smile. Something settled in his stomach, knowing George was gonna try and work on his habit. He, honestly, could go his whole life without seeing George curled up on the bed like that again. George gave a goofy grin back, some of the powdered sugar still on his lips. Joe moved his hand down and wiped the offending powder off of his lips, brushing his thumb against them a few more times than necessary, but the blush on George's face told him he didn't mind.

"You guys know I'm still here right?" Perconte asked, breaking the moment and causing the pair to look away from eachother. He had picked up George's discarded donuts and began digging into them. Somehow the powdered sugar look seemed much less appealing to Joe when it was on Perco. "Please don't start making out in front of me."

"Jesus, I'm gettin' the hell out of here," Joe stood up, George copying the action and following as Joe went to the front door.

"Hell of an idea there, Joe."

**Author's Note:**

> Woo! Two health-related fics in a row, I'm so sorry for that. For anyone who is curious, excess sugar can actually cause headaches, but interestingly enough, I've drank coffee to help with my migraines (its the caffiene). I hope that no one thought too badly of George having to cut back on sugar. He's not quitting just chilling for the sake of his headaches. I used to eat a lot of sugar and had to cut back recently too (it's hard and no fun).
> 
> Well, even though I wasn't super happy with this, I hope that you guys enjoyed it. For the next one I was thinking of doing a prequel song-fic thingy about how Nixon and Lewis met and how Lewis moved into the complex. So, let me know if you guys want that.
> 
> I wanted to let anyone know that if you have any requests regarding this series or if you wanna request inside the fandom but out of this series, I am open to suggestions (I think my email is on my profile). I'll also write for the Pacific and maybe some Justified. You can let me know. Well, I hope you enjoyed and I'm happy to have you all reading. Thanks lots! - Bee


End file.
